Feb 12, 2014

Spontaneous costumes surprise birthday parties with wildly fun people are always a great decision. Adding lasagna and vegan cookies takes them to the next level. Fine organic red wine is optional but recommend.

In a large saucepan, skillet or pot combine zucchini, mashed tofu, TVP, nutritional yeast, salt, cayenne and 35 oz of pasta sauce. Heat on low and simmer for approx 5 min. Remove from heat and set filling aside.

In a lasagna pan put a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom. Add an overlapping layer of noodles. Add a generous layer of filling. Add another layer of noodles, filling and a final noodle layer. Top with remaining sauce and Daiya Cheese.

Heat in oven or toaster oven at 400F for 5-8 mins, until cheese is melted.

TVP (textured vegetable protein) is the go to ingredient I often use to bulk up a chili, round out a pasta sauce, top a nacho plate, combine with rice for stuffed grape leaves or roll into sushi.

You could save time by buying any of the various ready made ground soy crumbles/beef available in stores but I haven't found a brand I like. Even when flavored they've never tasted good enough or had the right texture for the dish.

Combine
TVP, oil, salt, pepper, sugar in bowl and mix well. Brown in non-stick
ceramic pan til lightly browned/toasted or bake in toaster oven til
browned, approx 5 min. Stir in water and tamari and heat on low til
liquid totally absorbed. If there is any slight crunch on tasting, add
another 1/4 cup of water and heat further.

Jan 9, 2014

Here's to a new year and new habits.
On too many occasions in the past, I've not had a recipe for a dish that I've shared or posted about. Thankfully Heather, my wife Tiffany's BFF, had us over for new year's and she asked if I could show her how make a curry. Usually, like a lot of cooks with favorite recipes, you add a little bit of this and then a little bit of that until the cooking is done. This time, I took the time to make measurements while Heather wrote them down. Adjustments were made along the way as I tasted.

The curry I made is one I've been making for years, it's one of the many variations I enjoy, I hope you'll have fun making it.

In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to boil then add potatoes. Lower heat to avoid boiling over. Cook til potatoes slightly break apart on poking. Remove from heat and set aside 2 cups of water from pot. Drain potatoes and set aside.
While potatoes are boiling, add oil to a separate pot, set to medium heat and add garlic, carrot and onion. Stir gently and cook til onions are translucent and carrots are softened.
Lower heat and add peas, pineapple, juice, curry powder, cinnamon, tomato paste, salt and potato water. Heat another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add peanut butter and potatoes to curry and cook another 3 minutes, stirring gently.

Serve over basmati rice or with naan bread.

Feel free to omit any ingredients or add your own vegetables. Make your own signature curry.

Consider these:
coconut milk (use the thick version that comes in a can & buy organic to ensure BPA free lining)
red Thai curry paste or green Thai curry paste and/or Thai basil
any of the cabbage family like broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage!
bring on the squash with butternut, Kabocha, pumpkin, zucchini or summer squash
bell peppers are classic
bulk it up with chick peas, red lentils or green lentils

The last step is to let your meal digest and then play games with the wittiest people you can find.

Sep 6, 2013

As a child I spent a lot of time wondering what I should do for a living. From a young age I never saw myself working in an office or being a company man. I did like to draw, that was for sure. Creativity was fun, pure and simple. It took me a long time to figure out that fun is definitely at my core. Growing up I had very few friends and thought I was an introvert. Today life is much different, I'm around lots of super people and I've learned that laughter is food to me. Unfortunately, I have a hard time clicking with someone if I can't figure out their sense of humor. Anyway, going back to making a living, when I was younger I truly believed that as an artist I would have a tough time making a living. How would I make money as a painter or by drawing sketches? I'm sure I would have thought differently if I had grown up today. Back then, no one had computers and successful animated movies were rare.

Alright, it's time for another dessert recipe. This time it's a raw fruit sweetened sauce. Oddly, I make a lot of desserts, but if you've spent time with me, you'd know that I don't crave sweets at all. I'll enjoy an ice-cream sandwich or a slice of cake, but I usually stick to savory eats.

Combine all in high speed blender and blend til smooth.
A food processor will work too, but it'd be more of a chunky topping than a sauce.
The sauce will be thick and firm up a bit when refrigerated. Allow to warm up out of the fridge for ease of pouring.

As I got older pursuing romance took priority over a choosing a career.
This went on for decades. During that time vegan happened, the coolest
thing ever. But what to eat? Overtime the food got better and the art of
it all came about. Who would have guessed that what I made in a kitchen could bring such joy.

Pictured above is a slice of petite ice-cream cake with the caramel sauce. Use it yourself on pancakes, with oatmeal, on a sundae or as a dip for fresh fruit. The ice-cream cake recipe is here. Pour it into a spring pan for a large ice-cream cake or into a baking cup (typically used for cupcakes or muffins) for a petite cake.

I opted for a modest sized dessert since both the cake and the sauce are ultra decadent and rich. I set aside some slices in 3oz portion cups for later. A portion cup fits easily in the palm of your hand, perfect for the beach or a picnic.

As a fun question, who here can relate to this smoothie? I don't like waste, so I add a cup of water and some protein powder to the Vitamix to make use of all of the sauce still stuck to the sides of the pitcher. Ginger date protein smoothies are awesome!

Sep 2, 2013

Chocolate or raw cacao desserts are standard crowd favorites, but just for the sake of variety here's a quick raw recipe using raw cacao butter and orange. This dessert is different than most of my first raw ones, which had to be kept frozen and then allowed to thaw since they were too hard to eat out of the freezer. This hard ice-cream is fridge stable. Since there is fresh fruit in it, keep it in the freezer if you aren't going to eat it within a couple days.

Combine all in a high speed blender and work til smooth. Pour contents into your vessels of choice and let set in freezer.

For a simpler white chocolate ice-cream, replace the OJ with water and leave out the zest. Triple the vanilla for vanilla ice-cream.

Any fresh fruit or fresh squeezed juice, whether it be kiwi, pineapple, raspberry, durian, goji, acai berry or pear, can be substituted for the OJ.

Of course if you feel that it's not dessert without chocolate, who's to stop you. Just in case you missed the post on why fair trade chocolate click here and scroll to the bottom for the fun vid and link.

Desire a little more wow factor or you happen to have a bit more time on your hands, try this one.

White Chocolate Truffle
In eight silicone mini cupcake cups, pour in the white chocolate layer using the recipe above. Place in freezer to set for at least an hour. You can also use mini cupcake baking pan.

Remove from freezer and pour white chocolate orange layer on top.
Set in the freezer.
Top with your favorite fruit or sauce.

Want some more fancy in your life? A quenelle will add that bit of French to your life you've always wanted.
What you'll need is two spoons and some time to practice. Alternate a spoonful of ice-cream between spoons until you achieve the desired football shape.

Plate as it's own dessert with sauce, fruit or garnish or accent another dessert like cake or crepes.

This quenelle was made with mango ice-cream.

Throw a party with your elite group of friends and wow them with your skills. The kind of party where you dust off your nice table ware, use cutlery you need to polish and break out your good set of wine glasses.

Jul 25, 2013

The whole raw food movement or diet can be a little daunting. But don't be stressed out, you don't have to go as far as buying a whole new set of strange kitchen tools like dehydrators, spiral slicers, nut butter grinders or high powered juicers. There are some simple foods you can add using what you have laying around. If you have a shallow bowl, jar or plate you can definitely sprout mung beans. Mung beans have a decent amount of fiber and protein, as well as Vit K and folate, B vitamin good for your skin, blood, bones...

Day 1 - add water
Day 2 - drain, rinse well, add enough water to cover halfway (twice during day)
Day 3 - drain, rinse and eat
If storing, use airtight container and keep in fridge.

Great topper for salad, in maki sushi or as a snack.

For the salad I used the Raw Pecan Ranch from an older post. Modify the ranch dressing for sushi by leaving out the lemon and sweetener. Add a teaspoon of dry wasabi powder if you want the extra kick.

For the raw maki sushi I did modify the pecan ranch and used the raw miso mayo.

A variation uses the mung beans mixed with the raw miso mayo and diced red peppers. You can do it with or without the nori. To make room for the filling, the roll has a larger open center with butter lettuce to keep it from falling through.
For a shortcut you can also use a store bought Miso Mayo.

If you want to take on some more challenging sprouts, get your hands on alfalfa, broccoli, radish, garlic or red clover seeds. For those a sprouting jar, made using a mason jar and a square of cheese cloth, is easy enough to put together. Seeds, kits and info at Mumm's.

For more raw meals and desserts, the vibrant and inspirational Ani Phyo has a great site with some recipes and books available.